Doppelganger (1993)

Director:

Avi Nesher

Writer:

Avi Nesher (writer)

Release Date:

23 October 1993 (South Korea)

Genre:

Horror | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

What if your deepest, darkest desire came to life?

Plot:

A woman moves from NYC to LA after a murder, in which she is implicated. She is followed by what is apparently her evil alter- ego...

Plot Keywords:

Doppelganger | Murder | Female Nudity | Real Life Mother And Daughter Playing Mother And Daughter | Look Alike

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Drew Barrymore	...	Holly Gooding
George Newbern	...	Patrick Highsmith
Dennis Christopher	...	Doctor Heller
Leslie Hope	...	Elizabeth
Sally Kellerman	...	Sister Jan
George Maharis	...	Mike Wallace
Peter Dobson	...	Rob
Carl Bressler	...	Larry Spaulding
Dan Shor	...	Stanley White
Jaid Barrymore	...	Mrs. Gooding
Stanley DeSantis	...	Richard Wolf
Sean Whalen	...	Gas Man
Thomas Bosack	...	Holly's Father
Sarina C. Grant	...	Detective Pouget (as Sarina Grant)
John Cardone	...	Handcuffed Man
Irene Olga López	...	Night Nurse
Scott Lawrence	...	Male Nurse
Danny Trejo	...	Hard Hat
Karen Leigh Hopkins	...	Psychiatrist #1
Luana Anders	...	Ginger
Steven J. Oliver	...	Man in Van
Kathy Grable	...	Waitress
Don Perry	...	Priest
Lee Magnuson	...	Homeless Man
Mike Watters	...	Officer Mike Watters
Mike Webb	...	Officer Webb
Sandra Lee Williams	...	Nurse Jenkins
Edward D. Murphy	...	Doorman (as Edward Murphy)
Ksenia Prohaska	...	Additional voices (voice)
Pamela Anderson	...	Additional voices (voice)
Charles Bazaldua	...	Additional voices (voice)
Greg Finley	...	Additional voices (voice)
Lillian Garrett	...	Additional voices (voice)
Javier Grajeda	...	Additional voices (voice)
Tina Lifford	...	Additional voices (voice)
Paige Pollack	...	Additional voices (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nicole Hansen	...	Crazy Woman in Cafe Victor (uncredited)

Directed by
Avi Nesher

Writing credits
Avi Nesher		(writer)

Produced by
Donald P. Borchers	....	producer
William Christopher Gorog	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek

Cinematography by
Sven Kirsten

Film Editing by
Tatiana S. Riegel

Production Design by
Ivo Cristante

Art Direction by
Ken Larson

Set Decoration by
Lisa Monti		(as Lisa Maria Monti)

Costume Design by
Kimberly A. Tillman		(as Kimberly Tillman)

Makeup Department
Howard Berger	....	special makeup effects
Robert Kurtzman	....	special makeup effects
Gregory Nicotero	....	special makeup effects
Lori Jean Swanson	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Paul Almond	....	executive in charge of production
Bruce Wayne Gillies	....	unit production manager (as Bruce Gillies)
Guy J. Louthan	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Francis J. Conway	....	first assistant director: second unit (as Francis Conway)
Francis J. Conway	....	second assistant director (as Francis Conway)
Artist W. Robinson	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Curtis Laseter	....	construction foreman
Iris Hazel Raluga	....	creative designer

Sound Department
Matt Colleran	....	sound recordist
Joel Fein	....	sound re-recording mixer
Robert R. Rutledge	....	sound editor
B. Tennyson Sebastian II	....	sound re-recording mixer (as B. Tennyson Sebastian Jr.)
Brian Slack	....	ultra stereo consultant
John J. Stephens	....	sound re-recording mixer
Don Summer	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Jason Bakutis	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Sandi Berger	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
John Bisson	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Hank Carlson	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Michael Deak	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Iris Harel	....	creature designer
Rob Hinderstein	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Garrett Immel	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Susan Mallon	....	effects coordinator: K.N.B. EFX Group
Vincent Montefusco	....	mechanical effects
Ron Pipes	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group (as Ron Pipes II)
Brian Rae	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Timothy Ralston	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group (as Tim Ralston)
Chris Robbins	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group (as Christopher Robbins)
David Smith	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Mark Tavares	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Beecher Tomlinson	....	special effects
Melanie Tooker	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Wayne Toth	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group

Visual Effects by
David Stump	....	effects director of photography
Steve Wright	....	digital effects supervisor: Sidley Wright & Assoc.
Diane Wright	....	digital visual effects coordinator: Sidley Wright & Associates (uncredited)

Stunts
Kenny Bates	....	stunts
Tom Bergman	....	stunts
Janet Brady	....	stunts
Nick Brett	....	stunts
Steve Picerni	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Vance Burberry	....	photography: second unit
Edward A. Gutentag	....	steadicam assistant
Roger Meilink	....	best boy electric
Kurt E. Soderling	....	assistant camera
Jeff Venditti	....	first assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Patricia Peppard	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Jim Suhy	....	first assistant film editor

Music Department
Krzesimir Debski	....	conductor
Krzesimir Debski	....	orchestrator
Avi Nesher	....	music producer
Tatiana S. Riegel	....	music editor (as T. S. Riegel)
Greg Townley	....	scoring mixer

Other crew
Noam Dromi	....	production assistant
Steve Martin	....	animal provider
Yael Russcol	....	location manager
Danny McBride	....	body double (uncredited)

Thanks
Sara Hickman	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Planet Productions

Distributors

• Sci-Fi Channel, The (1992) (USA) (TV)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (1994) (France) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (laserdisc)
• Elephant Films (2004) (France) (all media)
• ITC Home Video (1993) (UK) (VHS)
• VPS Film-Entertainment GmbH
• Vídeo Arte (Brazil) (VHS)

Special Effects

• K.N.B. Effects Group (special makeup effects)

Other Companies

• Sound Satisfaction  post-production sound services

Also Known As:

"Doppelganger: The Evil Within" - USA (alternative title)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:18 | South Korea:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Planet Productions

Trivia:

Shot in thirty days.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the old house towards the end, Dennis Christopher (as the Doppelganger) Jabs Holly with a syringe to knock her out. The syringe is half full of air and half of milky liquid- he didn't get the air out before jabbing her with it. That amount of air in her bloodstream would surely have killed her.

Quotes:

[Elisabeth comments on how fast Patrick had begun sleeping with Holly when a guy comes out of her bedroom]
Patrick Highsmith:What was that you were saying about 6 months of suffering?
Elisabeth:OK, so I'm a slut, you're a slut, who wants coffee?

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Soundtrack:

Lost Ghost

Mediocre psycho-horror cliché fest

Doppelganger has its moments, but they are few and far between.

Essentially, this is a grade B blend of pop-psych thriller, ghost story and horror. Drew Barrymore plays a young woman who is haunted by the demons of her past (most of her family has been murdered and she was, in at least one case, the prime suspect), or does she just have a really bad case of multiple personality disorder? George Newbern is her new room mate, and most of the action centers on him.

Newbern's character is pretty sympathetic, and both he and Barrymore do decent work (though not exactly good). The mediocre to (at times) totally horrendous script and the unimpressive directing seem to have combined to sink the rest of the performances into oblivion. Leslie Hope's character is memorable, but so irritating that you will want to forget her.

The plot eventually disintegrates into a bifurcated (one story arc is psychological realism, the other is supernatural horror) outlandish climax which is so badly conceived, acted and photographed that it effectively counteracts most of what value the film had achieved previously.

Overall, the film has the feel of what might expect to be the result of M. Knight Shamalyan's first undergraduate film class. The acting and script for the two leads are just good enough to make you care a little about them - at least until the film derails utterly and completely.

My recommendation - send your doppelganger, but avoid a first-person encounter.